Timothy Busfield MISSING: US Marshals join search for Melissa Gilbert’s West Wing star husband on child sex abuse warrant as he says claims are ‘revenge’ after kids were dropped from cast

Federal authorities are helping to search for West Wing actor Timothy Busfield, who is accused of inappropriately touching a minor on a TV show set. 

A warrant has been issued for the 68-year-old Emmy award-winning actor’s arrest, charging him with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse on the set of his TV show ‘The Cleaning Lady.’

The US Marshals are now assisting officers to locate him and take him into custody, a spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police Department said.

When asked if Busfield had been located, detained or arrested, a APD spokesperson told People: ‘Not that I am aware.’

An investigation into Busfield’s alleged behavior began in November 2024 when staff at the University of New Mexico Hospital called police and reported twin 11-year-old boys potentially being groomed on the set of ‘The Cleaning Lady,’ which Busfield directed.

According to a complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, the alleged abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024. A warrant has been issued for Busfield’s arrest in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. 

In an accompanying affidavit, an officer shared how Busfield allegedly ‘grew closer to the boys’ during their time on set and told the children ‘to call him Uncle Tim’ as he and his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, bought the boys Christmas gifts, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Meanwhile, Busfield would allegedly ‘tickle them on the stomach and legs, despite them not liking the tickling.’ 

The children did not allege sexual touching at the time, but in October 2025 one of the parents reported to Child Protective Services that her child disclosed alleged sexual abuse by Busfield. 

One child actor then claimed that Busfield first touched his ‘private areas’ multiple times on set when he was just seven years old, and the following year, he claimed Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times.

The boy said he was ‘afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him.’ 

The investigation also included interviews with the children’s therapists and doctors, according to the affidavit.

It said that one of the child actors, who told a therapist that Busfield touched his ‘genitalia’ and ‘bottom’ while in a bedroom on the set of the TV show, had issues with bed-wetting, ‘along with other behavior issues,’ was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety and suffered from nightmares ‘about the director touching him.’

The complaint also details Warner Bros’ investigation into Busfield’s alleged behavior.

It said the studio received an anonymous tip in February 2025 from the SAG-AFTRA hotline about a December 2024 incident, and started investigating.

The studio has said it did not find any evidence to support the claims. 

But the criminal complaint against Busfield claims he once entered the hair and makeup trailer and ‘kissed a minor male on the face as the minor was getting a haircut.’

It also claimed ‘there are pictures of Mr. Busfield “tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys.”‘

When questioned about the allegations, Busfield allegedly claimed the boys’ parents wanted ‘revenge’ on him after their children were not asked back for the show’s final season. 

He then allegedly told investigators: ‘I don’t remember overtly tickling the boys ever, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for me.’ 

Fox and Warner Bros have since released a statement saying they are cooperating with law enforcement.

‘The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions,’ the studios said in a joint statement Sunday.

‘We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate and, when needed, take appropriate action,’ they added.

‘We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.’ 

Meanwhile, Busfield’s wife, Little House on the Prairie star Gilbert, appeared to have deleted her social media accounts.

As of Monday, a link to her official Instagram account leads to a page featuring the error message: ‘Profile isn’t available. The link may be broken or the profile may have been removed.’ 

But back in November, Gilbert spoke out about child sex abuse on her social media pages.

She responded to Megyn Kelly seemingly downplaying the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein by questioning whether he was even a pedophile by sharing her experience as a teenager filming romantic scenes with a love interest played by Dean Butler, who is nine years older than her.

‘So, I debated posting this but, I feel compelled to share. After seeing many women’s posts with the hashtags #iwasfifteen #imfifteen #iwasachild, I decided to Google search myself at that age and see what came up. And this is some of what I found,’ Gilbert, now 61, wrote in her caption of her Instagram post.

‘And now, at this age, at this time, I am actually nauseated. The girl on vacation in Hawaii with her family, is the same girl who was expected to ‘fall in love with’ and kiss a man on film who was several years older than she was,’ she continued, referring to working with Butler, who is now 69.

‘Through the lens of today, this is shocking. I have no words other than to say , “I WAS A CHILD,”’ Gilbert added. ‘Thank God my mom and Michael and so many others were there to make sure I was safe. Can you imagine if I hadn’t had them all? I am so fortunate (Sort of). Many other young women aren’t.’

‘@Megynkelly you need to be careful with your words,’ Gilbert concluded her post. 

Daily Mail has reached out to Busfield’s representatives and lawyers for comment.